My favourite scoring tools software developer Spitfire Audio has teamed up with HBO to bring an exclusive competition.
Click here to see and listen to my final score for Westworld’s scene on YouTube.
The task:
Score a car chase scene from Westworld’s season 3, episode 5 named „Genre“ to win an „everything“-SSD drive that includes all of Spitfire Audio’s virtual instruments. Being judged by the show’s creators to showcase my approach and having the opportunity to win a set of awesome new instruments isn’t bad either… Read about the competition details here.
My approach:
My musical approach was to build up tension by layering thundering drums, eerie drones and soundscapes plus composing a melodic outburst when Caleb finally strikes back with a rocket launcher to stop the ever coming back pursuers. The only thing I didn’t sample was the sound of these evil Japanese Murder Hornets which would seem fitting for the continuous pursuers that are approaching Dolores and Co. in this scene, or did I?
The sound design and mix was intentionally going for loudness and a dynamical compression since Caleb is in such a muffled trance state of mind due to his „genre trip“, so the music and overall mix had to reflect this as well instead of just putting epic drums under the scene like the most of the composers will probably do. In the end I also used one of my bought Spitfire Audio Library Waves patches from the Ólafur Arnalds Series when they leave the car to finally get rid off the last vehicle in a big bang.
My kind regards:
It was a pleasure to score this one. Kind regards and greetings from Berlin, Germany to you Spitfire Audio geniuses over in UK, you extraordinary TV-creators at HBO, the show’s creators (I love your smart meta writing Mrs. Joy and Mr. Nolan) and especially a big Dankeschön to Mr Djawadi who once again did a fantastic job on this season…
Sincerely yours,
Dennis Hartmann
*Edited on July 5th 2020:
Congratulations to the winner David Kudell, the internet’s been pretty harsh on you since the announcement of your win. Anyway, great job and keep on making excellent music!
